Article about: Hi I am new here today ! I have quite a varied collection, and I have recently got into collecting tank track links !! What is this relic ? It was found in Normandy, so it could be any count

Top tip: ALL of the crusty corrosion/scaling would tap off with a small hammer, I stopped at this point because it would not reveal any more form.
You ONLY get this on cast steel and NOT on cast iron which furs up over time and so any original form is lost forever !
If I had the patience I could clean away ALL of its adhering age gathered scale to reveal a very clean fragment !!
As we all know for example, cast STEEL tank track links can also be cleaned of ALL this acquired scale leaving only the pitting.
If you want your track totally cleaned of useless scale then it can be done, this scale is not history, it only serves to hide history !!
(For those who have not yet learned : Scale is the reaction between cast steel and the earth, it is a very hard composite of the iron content in the steel mixing with the earth
to form a hard scaling. This ultimately protects the cast steel underneath from more serious pitting. It can be very satisfying to carefully remove the scaling to reveal the original material and form hidden underneath)
Really hot water, marigold gloves and a very small hammer with careful tapping will loosen all but the most stubborn scaling. Persistence is worth the effort !!

Thanks, this is a puzzle that may never be solved too many variants of german equipment, sometimes I wish they had invented and used full interchangeability of parts across all the vehicle marks and types. It could be an ice cleat from a very late tank variant, an extremely large mobile mortar or tractor. We need a massive online library of the breakdown of ALL equipment parts, axis and allies. Now that would be a huge site, microfiche style ! Anyone out there want to help us relic collectors, I guess it would take years to set up ????